Garjī, Mullah Benjamin

(178 words)

Mullah Benjamin Garjī, born in Herat in 1902, was the son of Mullah Joseph Garjī and the grandson of Mullah Matityah Garjī. He emigrated to Palestine in 1911 and eventually replaced his father as leader of the Afghan Jewish community in Jerusalem. A darshan (preacher) who charmed his audiences, he taught in Talmud Torah schools in the Bukharan quarter of Jerusalem for fifty years and raised up generations of pupils and admirers thanks to his liberality and humanism. Mullah Benjamin headed the ’Ahavat Ḥesed (Love of Charity) aid organization, which extended discrete help to th…